FAA to Boeing: Develop a plan to fix your quality issues within 90 days
In a harshly worded statement released Wednesday, the Federal Aviation Administration said it has given Boeing 90 days to come up with a comprehensive action plan to address its “systemic quality-control issues.”
New FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker laid out the ultimatum to Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun and his senior safety team at an all-day meeting Tuesday at FAA headquarters in Washington, D.C.
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“Boeing must commit to real and profound improvements,” Whitaker said after the meeting. “Making foundational change will require a sustained effort from Boeing’s leadership, and we are going to hold them accountable every step of the way, with mutually understood milestones and expectations.”
The FAA said the plan to fix the quality problems must take account of both the forthcoming results of an ongoing FAA production-line audit and the findings released Tuesday in an expert review panel report commissioned by the FAA.
The plan must also include steps Boeing will take to mature its Safety Management System, a formal safety program Boeing committed to implement in 2019.
And the FAA said Boeing must integrate this program with its Quality Management System, to “ensure the same level of rigor and oversight is applied to the company’s suppliers.”
The goal, the FAA said, is to create “a measurable, systemic shift in manufacturing quality control.”
